A note about fares

The fare increase

On Monday 22 January 2018, fares will increase on TransLink services across Queensland.

In South East Queensland, adult and concession fares will increase by 1.5%, in line with the applicable Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate.

This means (for the average adult islander using a go card) that a peak time trip to the mainland will now cost $6.05, up from the previous price of $5.96. So that’s a $0.09 price increase. For those workers who leave the islands in the morning, and return later in the evening, therefore using off-peak services, have a price increase of $0.07, now costing $4.84 vs the previous $4.77.

Here is the new pricing for adults and concession holders:

New fare structure, effective 22nd January 2018.

Now, for a little bit of history

When the current Go-Card system was introduced on July 1 2013, it marked a decrease in ferry fares, over the previous system. Not only was it more convenient to use a Go-Card, it was actually cheaper too. Then following on in November 2014, Queenslanders choose a fare reduction as part of the Carbon Tax repeal. This decrease was around 5%.

TransLink also brought in changes, such as the (now replaced) ‘9 and then FREE‘ scheme, which has since been replaced with ‘8 paid journeys and 50 per cent off subsequent journeys per week‘ which are fantastic for frequent travellers.

Back to the current 1.5% fare increase

Even with the fare increase, happening on 22nd January 2018, our ferry fares will still be cheaper than they were before TransLink. So while the fares have gone up, they are still cheaper than the before TransLink and cheaper than they were before the Carbon Tax repeal.

Bay Island Guide users

For those of you with our Bay Islands Guide app, we will be updating the fares today, to reflect the changes happening on the 22nd. This means from today, BIG will show you the upcoming fare schedule, but you will not be charged that new amount, until the 22nd of January. We are doing this now, incase there is any arising issues over the next few days, and we cant update them then.